Intaglio-printing machine



June 10, 1924.

M. OWEN INTAGLIO PRINTING MACHINE Fil ed July 9, 1923 'vjnuenm aZcoZm Qwen Patented June 10, 1924.

UNITED STATES I 1,4975% PATENT orFlcE.

MALCOLIW Ui/VEN, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

INTAG-LIO-PRINTING MACHINE.

Application filed July 9,

To (ZZZ 10710172 it may concern Be it known that I, MALCOLM OWEN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at 10?) Iiarringdon Road, London, E. C. 1, England, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Intaglio-Printing Machines, of which the following is a specii'ication.

This invention relates to the type of printing or other machine employing an engraved sheet for attachment to a cylinder for rotary intaglio printing.

In machines of the character mentioned as originally intended, for example, as described in the specification of my application for a patent in the United States of America, Serial No. 626,091, filed on the 19th March, 1923 (divided from application Serial No. 587,014), the cylinder, after having the sheet attached, was bodily removed from the tension apparatus and placed in the machine in which it was used for printing, from which it was again removed after a proofhad been taken, the sheet being fixed on the printing cylinder as described in the specification accompanying my application for a patent in the United States of America Serial No. 644,901,1iled on the 12th June, 1923 (divided from application Serial No. 587,014). The removal of these cylinders was inconvenient and attended with loss of time, and the object of this invention is to provide means for assisting'the mounting or removal of a metal sheet from a cylinder to which it is to be attached or removed.

In connection with the above mentioned inventions, an essential feature is that the engraved metal sheets shall be mounted under tension, and accordingly this invention provides means by which, instead of removing the cylinder from the tension mill, the sheet itself can be removed and thereafter placed upon the cylinder in the printing machine proper.

The accompanying drawings illustrate a preferred construction embodying the present invention.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation showing a cylinder support of the tension apparatus referred to in application Serial No. 626,091 above mentioned; and Fig. 2 is a plan of the said cylinder.

Referring to the drawings, 1 is the cylinder, and for the purpose of this description it should be understood that this may represent either the cylinder in application Se- 1923. Serial N0. 650,457.

rial No. 626,091, or that in application Serial No. 644,901, which are identical, both as regards the operative parts of the cylin der which hold the metal sheet, and the gaps such as for fastening the sheet; this cylinder is supported on a framework such as 3, with a bearing 2 at each end, and in the case of the tension mill, mechanism is provided for rotating the cylinder 1 against the tension while the sheet is wrapped around same. In accordance with my system, after the sheet is removed from the cylinder 1 it is mounted on the cylinder of the printing machine.

4 is a roller carried transversely of the machine, and assuming that the cylinder 1 has the sheet wrapped around it with its ends fixed in the gap 22, the packing will be removed. about in the position ofthe gap shown on the drawings relative to the transverse roller 4, so that as the cylinder 1 is rotated in the direction of the arrow, the cranked end of the sheet will spring out of the gap 22 until controlled by the roller 4, and upon the continued rotation of the cylinder 1 it can be withdrawn easily by hand over the roller 4 until as the gap 22 in the course of rotation passes the roller 4, the other end will come off its holding lugs without difliculty and retaining its angular set with respect to the sheet.

The roller 4 is carried by hearing eyes 9 at the ends of the arms 6 pivoted on a spindle 7 running across the machine, and the lever 5 extends downwardly below its pivot 7 to terminate in a threaded eye 8 in which works the screw 12 whose end presses against the fixed abutment 10 on the frame 3. By screwing up the hand wheel 11, therefore, any desired pressure may be applied between the roller 4 and the cylinder 1 for the control of the sheet 5 between them as it leaves the cylinder.

In applying the sheet to the printing cylinder, which is the counterpart of 1, the end 14 of the sheet is hooked on the projections in the gap 22 from the right hand side of the machine and the cylinder rotated in the opposite direction to the arrow, thereby bringing the end 14 beneath the roller 4 and allowing the pressure thereof to keep the sheet close to the cylinder, so that as the other end 15 reaches the gap 22 in the course of rotation, it will drop snugly into same and can be fixed by a packing strip or pressure member arranged loosening of same leaving it uncontrolled and liable to damage either itself or other parts of the machine in which it is mounted;

By the use of this invention all movement of the cylinders themselves from the tension mill to the printing machine, or vice versa, is saved, the sheets are readily removable, and if a sheet is required to be put into the printing machine merely for the running off of aproof, it can be done Without inconvenience or difiiculty and the machine be free for printing proper in a very short time.

I claim 1. In machines requiring a thin sheet to be Wrapped under tensionand unwrapped from a cylinder mounted on a framework in which it revolves, means for controlling the sheet comprising a roller, pivoted arms having bearings supporting the roller transversely of the machine, and means for tilting the said arms to cause pressure adapted to grip the said sheet between the roller and the cylinder.

2. In machines requiring a thin sheet to be wrapped under tension and unwrapped from a cylinder mounted on a framework in which it revolves, means for controlling the sheet comprising a roller having a flexible .)eripher v, pivoted arms having bearings supporting the roller transversely of the machine, and means for tilting the said arms to cause pressure adapted to grip the said sheet between the roller and the cyle inder.

In machines requiring a thin sheet to be wrapped under tension and unwrapped from a cylinder mounted on a framework in which it revolves, means for controlling the sheet comprising a roller, a transverse spindle parallel with the cylinder and hearings therefor, arms carried by the said spindle at each end having bearings supporting the roller transversely of the machine, a lever on the transverse spindle having a threaded eye, a fixed abutment on the stationary part of the machine, and an adjusting screw threaded in the said eye and hearing against the said abutment, whereby pressure can be applied to the transverse roller towards the cylinder.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signa ture.

MALCOLM OWEN. 

